Q&A

By C. CLAIBORNE RAY

Published: October 27, 1992

Animal Tears

Q. Do other mammals shed tears when wailing the way humans do?

A. Zoo authorities say they have not observed any overwrought orangutans shedding tears.

"From our experience with zoo animals, I don't know of any animals other than humans that produce tears in emotional contexts," said Fred Koontz, curator of mammals at the New York Zoological Garden. "They certainly produce tears, but from physical irritants rather than emotional ones."

Carmi Penny, curator of mammals at the San Diego Zoo, also said he did not know of any animals that shed tears of emotion. "Most animals with eyes will produce tears," he said, "but for maintenance and protection of the eyes." Peppery Climes

Q. Why do people in hot climates eat hot peppers?

A. There is not a perfect correlation between the amount of hot foods eaten and the warmth of the climate, pointed out Dr. Michael Nee, a botanist who is a tropical collections specialist at the New York Botanical Garden in the Bronx. In Honduras, for example, hot pepper is not a major part of the cuisine, as it is in nearby Mexico and Thailand.

Dr. Nee suggested that a regional fondness for pepper may simply arise because meat and other foods tend to go bad quickly in a hot climate, so that people tend to use spices and spicy condiments to cover an off taste. This was one traditional explanation for relatively chilly northern Europe's lust to retrieve the spices of the Orient in the days before refrigeration.

As for direct physiological effects that might be beneficial in a hot climate, "it's hard to say," said Dr. Arthur D. Heller, clinical assistant professor of medicine at Cornell Medical College. Dr. Heller, who is a gastroenterologist in the division of nutrition, said that one effect of both peppers and peppercorns was the stimulation of gastric juices, saliva and mucus flow. This could improve an appetite depressed by the heat.

Some medical authorities have suggested that hot spices might act as an antibiotic, but such claims have not been scientifically substantiated, Dr. Heller said. The active hot ingredient in peppers, a substance called capsaicin, can also stimulate the circulation and raise body temperature, so that sweating occurs; this might make people feel cooler as the sweat evaporates, he said.